Dirt and More Dirt

LAST OCTOBER, MATTHEW Herrick was smoking a cigarette in front of his West Harlem brownstone when the first visitor appeared. As Herrick tells it, the man innocently pressed the buzzer for Herrick's apartment. Then he asked matter-of-factly if Herrick was the one who'd been communicating with him via the hookup app Grindr, and who'd minutes earlier invited him over for sex. Herrick said that he hadn't—he hadn't even looked at the app in a week—and asked how the stranger even knew his name. That's when the man pulled out his phone and showed Herrick a Grindr profile that included a photo of Herrick in his kitchen, taken from his Instagram account, including the 32-year-old actor and model's face and bare chest. Herrick was unnerved. "That's me, but that's not me," he remembers saying.

TORONTO — An alleged serial killer accused of murdering five men is expected to face more charges after Toronto police announced the discovery of more human remains on Thursday.

Homicide Det. Sgt. Hank Idsinga said that the remains of six individuals have now been recovered from a residential property where Bruce McArthur, a 66-year-old self-employed landscaper, had worked.

"I do anticipate more charges," Idsinga said outside 53 Mallory Crescent, where the remains had been discovered in several planters. "I don't have a timetable for that, I don't have a number for that, but I would expect more charges will eventually be laid.

dsinga said police have identified at least one set of remains as belonging to Andrew Kinsman, one of the men McArthur is accused of murdering, but said investigators are still working to determine who the other alleged victims are.

McArthur was charged on Jan. 18 with 49-year-old Kinsman's death, as well as the presumed death of 44-year-old Selim Esen. Both men went missing from Toronto's gay village in 2017.

The remains were all found on the same property.Michelle McQuigge and Peter GoffinCanadian Press

A man suspected in the killing of a 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student who was stabbed nearly two dozen times and buried in a shallow grave at a California park told investigators that he was being hit on, a newspaper reported.

Samuel Lincoln Woodward, 20, was arrested and taken into custody Friday on suspicion of homicide after DNA evidence linked him to the death of, Blaze Bernstein, a college sophomore, Orange County Undersheriff Don Barnes said.

There are biological, behavioural and legal factors which put men who have sex with men 24 times more at risk of HIV compared with the general population.

Many countries have made significant progress in recognising the rights of LGBTQ people, while in other countries punitive laws and homophobia create additional barriers for men who have sex with men from accessing HIV prevention, testing and treatment services.

Globally, more funding is required to support targeted HIV prevention, testing and treatment programmes for men who have sex with men

As tensions between North Korea and the U.S. rise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention want Americans to be prepared in case of a nuclear event.

The agency scheduled a briefing Jan. 16 titled "Public Health Response to a Nuclear Detonation," where federal, state and local officials will detail what preparations have been made in case of such an event.

African Americans have the most severe burden of HIV of all racial/ethnic groups in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers For Disease Control. Close to half of all new HIV diagnoses are among African Americans.

Some U.S. cities have a higher rate of HIV than others. Here are the top ten: #1 - Baton Rouge, LA: took the top spot for HIV with a 44.7 percent. The city is the center for massive opiate addiction. #2 - Miami, FL: is second with a 42.8 rating. #3 - New Orleans, LA: took third place with a 36.9 rating. About 19,000 people in New Orleans have HIV, and more than half of them have AIDS. #4 - Jackson, MS: has an HIV rating of 32.2. #5 - Orlando, FL: has a rating of 28.8 for HIV, which is slightly lower than their rate in 2013-2015. #6 - Memphis, TN: has a rating of 27.6, with African-American gay and bisexual men being most affected by HIV. CDC estimates that 2,000 people in Memphis do not know they have HIV. #7 - Atlanta, GA: more than 1,000 people are diagnosed with HIV each year in Atlanta. Their HIV rating is 25.9. #8 - Columbia, SC: has a 25.6 HIV rating, with contributing factors such as poverty, rural geography, lack of affordable healthcare and social stigma. #9 - Jacksonville, FL: this Florida city has a HIV rating of 25.1, which is believed to be due to the number of business people and tourists who travel to Jacksonville. #10 - Baltimore, MD: comes in at #10 with a 24.3 HIV rating. It is the only one of the top ten cities for HIV that is not located in the south. For the full report, visit www.cdc.gov/hiv/statistics/overview/geographicdistribution.html

DISCLAIMER: The content or opinions expressed on this web site are not to be interpreted as medical advice. Please consult with your doctor or medical practitioner before utilizing any suggestions on this web site.

Skeptics of pornography’s harmful effects will often point out that porn has been around for a long time. After all, cavemen drew sexual images on their stone walls, and the ancient Greeks sculpted it on their pottery. But comparing ancient paintings on clay pots to today’s endless stream of hardcore videos depicting every possible sexual act in high definition, available 24 hours a day on a device that fits into your pocket, isn’t exactly comparing apples to apples.

Porn has changed dramatically even within the last few decades. As porn’s availability has risen, so have its devastating effects on people, relationships, and society at large. As therapist John Woods recently wrote, pornography “is no longer just a private problem. It is a public health problem.”

"It's not his fault, he has a disease. He can't control it. He needs help." These are the words I've heard repeatedly from spouses of alleged sex addicts, as my new book, The Myth of Sex Addiction, is getting increased media attention. Wives of these men sometimes seize the sex addiction label as a way to tell themselves that their husband's sexual misbehaviors are not a personal issue. Maybe if it's a disease, these problems aren't truly a sign of problems in the marriage, or in the husband or wife. When they call these choices a sex addiction, it's a way to say that their husbands really aren't meaning to be selfish, impulsive and destructive, but that their choices and consequences of those choices, are the result of an illness. And illnesses are out of out control, aren't they?